The End of the Show
by starfire-zorua
Summary: The danger has passed. But, what will happen now? Everyone's here, I just couldn't all of them into the characters.


All danger had passed. There was nothing left to worry about, and Steven, Greg, Connie, and the Gems were taking good advantage of this. Steven played catch with Greg and Connie, with Amethyst as the beach ball, Pearl showed Peridot a crab scuttling along the sand, Lapis standing a little away from them, secretly interested, and Garnet was just leaning lazily on the rocks, staring stoically out at the crashing waves. She was deep in thought, mostly going over that had gone on in her life. At the start when, she were two beings, she hadn't expected to ever be happy. As Sapphire, she had happily gone along with the idea of obliteration, and as Ruby, she had just been one of the many others of her species, nothing special whatsoever. But now, as Garnet, she looked around at the people and gems around her, this motley crew, and thanked everything that the events that had unfolded had, and that she was finally in a place where she could be happy. She smiled to herself, folding her arms and idly looking up at the temple, at the place she had spent so long being horribly depressed after Rose's demise. She now felt that she could be happy there. And that was all she asked for.

Garnet was about to turn back to her family, when she became aware of a pink glow emanating from the windows. She frowned, sliding her shades down her nose, just as the glow stopped. No one else seemed aware of it. She took a curious step towards it, expecting to be able to see into the future, when she knew what it had caused it, but, saw nothing.

"Sapphire, what's the deal?" She murmured, taking another step forward. She had by now caught the attention of Pearl, who stopped her explanation of abiotic factors, and looked over at her friend. Peridot noticed her silence, and glanced up at her, nocking an eyebrow.

"Hey, what gives?" She protested, liking her speech. Pearl didn't respond, and got up from her kneel, brushing sand from her knees, still staring at Garnet. She started walking over, so Peridot ran after her, on all fours, only to stop at the game of catch, and decide to join in there instead. Now that there was no conversation to eavesdrop on, Lapis just walked over to the crab and picked it up. It looked up at her. Her eyes went starry, and she placed it on her head, smiling at her new pet.

"I will name you, Bob Jr."

 _I can't see anything_. Sapphire insisted, a tad scared; why couldn't she see into the future? When she couldn't do that, she may as well be written off, as she became a blubbering mess of anxiety.

"Garnet?" Pearl asked, flinching when Garnet turned to her, with that fierce stare she had never fully become accustomed to. So, she was half relieved when she immediately turned back to the temple, where they both saw the same pink glow again. Pearl took a curious step forward, but, stopped dead in her tracks when she saw who was standing at the top of the stairwell. That cascading mane of unforgettable pink curls, that flowing white dress, those beautiful black eyes. Pearl covered her mouth, and Garnet had to rush to keep the smaller gem from falling backwards into the sand.

The figure at the stairs descended them, ending up at their feet, smiling down at the shocked, and tear-streaked face of her beautiful Pearl.

"Hello, my Pearl," she whispered lovingly, and Pearl broke down crying, rushing forward to throw her arms around her chubby torso. When the others heard her start crying, they just assumed she was in one of her ways again, and turned lazily to see what had happened, and then all froze up. Rose noticed their attention on her, and smiled at them all.

"Hello, my children," she greeted them all. There were mixed emotions all around; Pearl cried into her stomach. Garnet looked completely shocked, her hands over her mouth, shaking slightly. Amethyst hesitated for a moment, tears quickly coming to her eyes, before running across the sand to hug the bigger gem, crying now too. Greg teared up as well, clutching at his heart, falling onto his butt. He wanted to run to embrace her too, but, the Gems needed her more than he did. It still hurt him. Peridot looked pretty bewildered, and intimidated, but, did not by any means break down like everyone else had. The same with Lapis, she just walked over to the smaller, green gem, and laid a hand on her shoulder, sensing her fear. Peridot looked up at her, and gave her a grateful smile. Lapis smiled back. Connie was shocked, and looked over at Steven, who gone pale, and just stood there, his eyes wide, beyond surprised.

Rose looked down at the two crying gems, then looked over at the third, who still had her mouth covered, shaking. Connie walked over to her, and touched her arm. Her chin wrinkled as she pressed her lips shut. Connie reached up to remove her shades, to reveal her three, teary eyes. She covered her face, her shoulder shaking as she started crying too. Then she started to glow, and she was soon no more, and Ruby and Sapphire now stood where Garnet once did, clutching each other as they both shook with tears. Rose smiled at the two much smaller gems, and called,

"Ruby! Sapphire!" They both ran over to her, Ruby loudly sobbing, Sapphire a bit quieter, but just as sad, and happy. They both jumped onto her shoulder, hugging her as if they would never let go. Rose smiled at them both, kissing them both on their cheeks.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting," she whispered to them, and they just cried harder.

After quite a while of just trying to comfort basically her children, they backed off, sensing that she had other people to see as well.

"I have been trying for as long as I've been gone to come back. Turns out I had a bit of life left. It just took a while to reform completely," she explained, and Pearl pointed out in a cracking voice,

"But, your gem…Isn't it in Steven?" Rose nodded, and lifted her dress up, to reveal her gem-less stomach.

"I'm not a gem anymore. I gave it all to Steven. I'm a human being," she answered, looking over at her distraught husband, who was the one crying the hardest by this point. She walked over and put a hand on his shoulder, making him look up with tear-blurred eyes at her, smiling damply. She extended her hand, which he took, being helped to his feet. Before anymore could be said, he threw his arm around her, and cried into her chest. She put her arms around him too, closing her eyes as she rested her chin on his head.

"Then…how were you able to come back? No gem's able to do that," Peridot enquired, walking forward in curiosity. Lapis stayed back, still with Bob Jr on her head. Rose looked up at the sound of the unfamiliar voice, and smiled at the much smaller gem, who looked uncomfortable.

"No gem could do it, exactly. But, I'm not a gem, and humans seem to have a tendency of holding on to the last bit of life in them, and seem able to make a comeback when least likely," she answered, and Peridot looked down at her socked feet; being able to come back from the dead. This just made her have more respect for the Rose Quartz. She was a great leader. Who knew she was as equally good at being a human?

"Where were you this whole time?" Amethyst asked, still wiping tears from her eyes, and currently being hugged by Pearl. Greg let go of her so she could look at the purple gem, and answer,

"I have been half of Steven. Not his gem, himself as a whole. He's been a half gem, half human for as long as I've been in him. But now that I'm out, he's full gem." Everyone heard the bewildered gasp that came from Steven then. Rose turned to her son, who was walking nervously over to her, honestly looking scared. When he was right in front of her, he stopped, shaking. Rose raised her hand, and put it against his gem, like Steven usually does with Lars. He looked down at her hand, and then back at her, with tears in his starry eyes.

"You mean, I'm a full gem?" He asked in awe. Rose nodded with a smile. Then, and only then, did Steven break down, jumping up into her arms, hugging her around the neck. Rose laughed, and so did Steven, showing how similar they indeed sounded, as the Gems all came to stand around the mother and son. Each and every one, of them, even Peridot and Lapis, had tears in their eyes, as they watched Rose and Steven embracing the other, finally, for the first time in their lives. It was the most beautiful thing any of them had ever seen, and would continue to see, for as long as they were all together.


End file.
